Catch Me, Hold Me
by kitkatkandy
Summary: In his senior year of high school, Danny tries to sort his feelings for Sam, but Sam begins to lose all hope for any nonplatonic relationship. As paranormal danger arises, Danny needs to sort his feelings for Sam quickly, or he may just lose her forever.
1. Chapter One

**Catch Me, Hold Me**

In his senior year of high school, Danny tries to sort his feelings for Sam, but Sam begins to lose all hope for any non-platonic relationship. As paranormal danger arises, Danny needs to find out his feelings for Sam quickly, or he may just lose her forever.

Chapter One

A raven-haired boy with anticipating crystal blue eyes stood waiting at the busy entrance to the North Mercy Hospital in Amity Park. Danny Fenton, ordinary-boy-turned-super-hero-at-the-age-of-fourteen, stood there with hands shoved in his pockets, shuffling his feet around. He wasn't bored. Of course, he _wouldn't_ be bored. He was excited. It had been two full weeks without any ghostly interruption in his life; his two best friends and himself were soon to head out to the movie theater just like old times to celebrate this once in a lifetime opportunity. After freshman year, it was all different. All three of them weren't the same ordinary fourteen year olds they once were. Now they were 17 -- well, Tucker turned 18 the past week of March. Three years makes some difference.

They grew up. Both physically and mentally –maybe not so much in maturity just yet. Every now and then, Danny secretly wished if he could just rewind time and freeze it at one moment, any moment when life was simple; he had access to the idea of course. Clockwork could make that happen, couldn't he? Perhaps that's just food for thought.

So Danny was waiting right next to the swishing emergency doors at the hospital for Sam to get off her volunteer shift while Tucker was mercilessly finding a place to park their carpool vehicle. They all shipped in to buy their own car around junior year. Tucker planned to call it the Fenton Mystery Machine (with apologies to Scooby-Doo and the gang). Luckily, majority overruled the suggestion.

"Man, parking out there was _brutal_," Tucker told Danny as he approached him with a tired look.

Danny laughed. "You didn't dent the car did you, Tuck?"

Tucker sighed. "Once, okay _ONCE_, I put a small dent in the back of the car, and you never let me live it down, do you?"

"First of all, Tuck," Danny began. "The dent was the size of Alabama. And so much paint was stripped off that it was almost as bare as Mr. Lancer's lack of hair."

Tucker gave him a dirty scowl. "Well, Mr. Perfect, let's see you drive. I remember you failed your driving exam _three_ times."

"Okay, fine. How about this? Out of the three of us, Sam is the best driver." Danny suggested. It was true though. Sam not only passed her driving exam in one shot, she also received a perfect score for her written portion as well. Sam was _perfect_. In everything Danny saw, Sam could do no wrong.

"Yes, I agree," Tuck nodded. "Sam is."

"Sam is what?" A sarcastic voice approached steadily. Both boys turned around to see Sam in her hospital scrubs. "I heard my name. Is it being degraded?" she asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"No, Sam. We were just saying how you're the best driver out of all of us." Danny clarified. "Which is true, because genius #1 next to me can't stay away from contacting another car."

"Well, genius #2 over there doesn't know the front of the car from the back." Tucker retorted.

Sam rolled her eyes nonchalantly. "Well, I could have told you all that one." She grinned a little.

Danny smiled at her as she placed the wicked smirk upon her lips. There was this bubbling feeling at the bottom of her stomach rising all the way to his throat. He almost couldn't contain it. He kept his eyes on her for a while looking at how much she changed from freshman year. She lost some of the black attire and grew her hair out into a wave of soft black velvet that fell over her shoulders, stripped with purple hair-dye at the tips.

"Danny, what are you looking at?" Sam asked curiously. "You've been staring at my hair for awhile."

Danny flashed his mind back into reality. "Hm? Oh, nothing. I just kind of stared off into space for a bit. So you guys ready to see the movie?"

"Do I look like I'm ready?" Sam asked, pointing to her scrubs.

Tucker jeered loudly. "Oh, Sam _cares_ about the way she looks? That's a first."

Sam fisted him in the arm. He wailed in agony. "Good thing we're at a hospital," Danny remarked. "Okay, we'll take you back to your house to get changed and then we'll head out. How's that?"

"Perfect," she smiled.

_Just like you_, he thought grinning. He didn't catch himself in time as the words spread through his brain. But once he did, his grin fell into a visage of confusion.

Suddenly, there was a wave of cries coming towards them.

"Kids, move out of the way," one of the doctors ordered as he came out of the hospital.

They looked towards the commotion to see a parked ambulance car with hospital workers rushing towards the door and more doctors rushing out of those swishing doors next to them.

"What's happening?" Tucker whispered to Sam.

"Looks like one hell of an emergency to me; I've never seen the doctors this frantic."

All three teens stepped out of the way as they pulled the patient out. "What's the problem?" they heard the doctor ask.

"The man suffered from a stroke down in the city central. He's rapidly losing his pulse," the man from the ambulance answered.

"Hurry, get him into the hospital – quickly!" the doctor ordered.

As the wheeled the patient past the threesome, a thin blue icy smoke escaped Danny's lips. Frantically, Danny looked around. The ghosts couldn't have picked a worse time to show up. But as his eyes searched the perimeter, he caught no sign of any tangible fiends.

"Danny, what's wrong?" Sam asked, holding onto his arm.

"My ghost sense went off …"

"Doctor!" the man called out again. "He's not breathing and his heart rate is at zero."

The doctor looked worried. "We don't have time to wheel him into the emergency room. We have to give him CPR now!" The doctor gave the patient mouth to mouth, pounding on his chest to get the man to live, but with no avail. They called the time of death.

Sam kept her attention on Danny. "Danny, are you okay? Is there a ghost?"

"No," he answered with his voice still in concern. "I couldn't find any ghost."

"That's weird…" Tucker commented. "Has your ghost sense ever go haywire like that before?"

Danny nodded. "A few times." He shook his suspicions off. "Yeah, you know what? It's probably nothing. Let's go and enjoy our day of no ghostly interruptions."

"Yeah," Tucker agreed, scratching his head. "After I've seen someone's life flash before my eyes, let's enjoy the day while we still can. Then again, with all the ghost fighting we've done, I've seen my life flash before my eyes at least a thousand times…" Tucker continued talking as he led the group to the car.

Sam looked up worriedly as they were walking to meet her best friend's eyes. "Danny…"

"It's okay, Sam. It's okay." Danny tried to reassure her. He smiled softly as he noticed how tightly she was gripping his arm. But he didn't say a word. He liked the feeling anyways though he couldn't understand it at the time.

-

-

Tucker and Danny were patiently waiting outside of Sam's house, leaning against the car. Tucker was bored. Sam told them that she'd only be five minutes, but five minutes just turned into fifteen.

"How long does it take for a girl to get ready for the movies?" Tucker complained.

Danny nodded in agreement staring at his watch. "What's _five_ minutes for girls?"

"I'm guessing they really mean an hour when they say five minutes. As the master of cryptic encoding, I have realized _parts_ of the secret language of the female race." Tucker proudly stated, pulling out his PDA. "It's all in here."

"Oh really?" the raven-haired boy asked. "Enlighten me, please."

"Sure," his friend nodded in amusement. "Rule numero uno: all girls, and I mean, _all_ girls, take _at least_ ten more minutes than men do to get ready."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. I'm serious. Time it. I mean, just take a freaking stopwatch and time it. It's amazing, I tell you. Why they do it? I don't know, but it's a fact … a law of human nature!"

Danny chortled inward. "More like female nature," he commented.

"Danny, you wouldn't be sexist now, would you?" A female voice questioned curiously.

Both boys looked towards the direction of the sound. "Valerie!" Danny exclaimed, pushing himself off of the car and into a more mature-looking posture. It was still the same old thing for young Danny Fenton. He was still experiencing minor butterflies around Valerie Grey, his friend and ghost-hunting enemy. Oxymoron? Not quite if you were Danny Phantom.

"So, you didn't answer my question. Being sexist, or just a jerk-off?" She laughed.

Danny's face flushed a tad at the sound of her laugh. "Uh, no. We were just discussing something … about … Tucker's PDA, or something like that." He managed to say in odd fragmented chunks.

"Yeah," Tucker rolled his eyes in annoyance. It wasn't that he didn't like Valerie because they were friends of course but it was pathetic the way Danny still hasn't realized that there was no hope for any relationship with Valerie. Most importantly, he was oblivious to any notion of Sam's feelings for him. Tucker sighed.

He looked over Sam's doorway and saw the Gothic mistress herself tensed and frozen at the sight of Danny and Valerie talking. Tucker winced. Wrong timing – totally the wrong timing.

Slowly Sam trudged her weak feet down the steps of her house. She had not expected Valerie's _intrusion_. To get things straight, Sam didn't _hate_ Valerie, but she wasn't going to put Valerie under one of the people that she adored of course. At first when Valerie made her entrance into the trio's lives, she wanted to protect Danny from Valerie's secret identity of the ghost-hunter of Amity Park, but soon she saw Valerie as a threat. Valerie liked Danny, she was sure and Danny had a crush on her back. But she thought that maybe, just maybe, Danny could see her, his best friend, first instead of Valerie. But she realized it was perhaps of no avail to hope for something so high.

"Sorry Sam," Tucker whispered. Tucker knew of Sam's affections. She was pretty sure that everyone knew - everyone, except Danny.

Sam sighed. "It's okay Tuck. That's life, right?"

"Sam, Danny is _just_ Danny. He's not quick at this stuff and he--"

"Four years of high school _wasn't_ at his pace yet?" Sam questioned.

Tucker remained silent. You couldn't mess with a girl who just had her heart pierced with a rusty, dulled out sword.

"Sam! I didn't see you there. Were you waiting long?" Danny turned to see Sam, completely missing her presence to begin with.

"No, not _really_," Sam monotonously answered.

Tucker intervened desperately. "Why don't we go now? Hm?" He suggested.

"Oh, were you three headed somewhere?" Valerie prompted at them with a smile.

"The movies," Tucker answered. "We're celebrating a day of no gh--"

Tucker got punched into the stomach because of his huge, _huge_ mouth "A day of no homework!" Danny interjected in time. "A day of no homework. So we decided that we should all head down to the movies to celebrate."

"Oh, that seems really … nice, I guess." Valerie nodded in response.

"Why don't you come with us?" Danny offered.

Tucker's eyes shot up. "Oh _shit_ … he didn't just do that," he muttered under his breath.

"I'd love to! Oh, but I hope I'm not intruding or anything."

"No, of course _not_," Sam began, faking a huge smile. "The more the _merrier_, right?"

Tucker cringed at Sam's desperate pleas. How could Danny not be getting these signals?

"Great!" Danny exclaimed enthusiastically.

Tucker remembered: Danny was a straight C student. Maybe four years _wasn't_ enough after all.

-

-

All four teens waited in line at the concession stand before the movies started. Sam was contemplating whether or not to spill hot boiling butter on Valerie, and laugh at the situation. When the girl was pissed, she was conniving. It didn't mean she was going to do _it_ of course, but the pain of implied rejection stung her to the point where she couldn't think clearly. Tucker was playing with his PDA and Valerie was asking Danny a few questions about their homework in biology class. It was almost too much for her to bear. As they were about to head into the theater, Sam interjected with an attempt to get out of this situation.

"I'm gonna head over to the Ladies' Room. I'll meet you guys in the movie theater, okay?"

"Um, okay," Danny answered. "But don't be too long or you'll miss the beginning."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, of course."

Sam headed over to the Ladies' Room with many moments to spare. She wasn't in a rush to get back into the theater to meet her painful demise. It was difficult to watch, and twice as agonizing. It's been four years, and yet still, Danny had no idea how she felt about him.

"Idiot…" she mumbled from under her breath.

What did she have to do to get his attention? Dress up like Bugs Bunny? Shave her head? What did it take? She was almost willing to do anything.

She was angry, furious, pissed and most importantly, sad. Tears welded up behind her eyes as she desperately tried to fight them in. It was no use. Danny was the only thing in the world that could make her cry, and he was the only one that could make her stop.

"This is pathetic," she said, leaning against the bathroom stall. She took out a mirror from her purse and winced. "Oh dammit, I look like hell." She grabbed paper towels from the dispenser and tried to wipe her eyes. She took in a few deep breaths before she headed out for the theater.

When she stepped out of the bathroom with her eyes targeted towards the ground, she ran into someone she just didn't want to deal with at the moment: _Dash_.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Goth," Dash mocked.

She looked up. She wasn't in the mood. "Move it, Dash." She warned. Sam tried to push him out of her way, but it was useless. Dash _was_ the star quarterback in their high school football team.

"Where are we in a rush to?" He asked. "Not leaving so soon are we?"

"Just leave me alone right now, okay?" Sam ordered.

Dash grabbed her arm forcibly and pushed her against her own will. Sam had no option to move as Dash kept his grip on Sam's arm, almost pinning her against the wall. "Come on, Sam. Where you going? Did I ever tell you that you're quite hot for a Goth?" He whispered in her ear, eying her tight black t-shirt.

"Let go of me!"

"Why? You still waiting on Fenton? Why don't you just let him go and come to me? I could show you a good time." Dash noticed change in Sam in the past two years. She was a little bit more attractive and Dash couldn't figure out why she still wanted Danny over him.

"I said, let go!" Sam was almost pleading. Did he have to mention Danny?

Dash grinned at her futile attempts. He traced his other free hand on her cheek as she instinctively tried to pull away. But there was nothing to run to.

-

-

Danny glanced down at his watch as the movie was five minutes in. "Hey, I'm gonna go look for Sam. She's been gone for a while. I'm a little bit worried." Danny casually and quickly shuffled out of the aisle.

Valerie was curious as she whispered to Tucker, but kept her eyes on the movie, "How is he going to find her? It's not like he can get _into_ the Ladies' Room."

"That's what you think…" Tucker muttered.

"What?" Valerie asked.

"Nothing. I said nothing," Tucker quickly answered back.

-

-

Danny was quickly walking down the halls of the Amity Park Theater to find Sam. "Sam's not usually this _slow_ when she's at the movie theater." Danny said to himself.

He turned the corner towards the Ladies' Room when he saw it.

"Stop it, Dash!" he heard Sam plead.

"Come on Sam, you know you like me…" Dash whispered in a seductive manner.

Something in Danny erupted. His blood was boiling and he wanted to go up to Dash and strike him with an ectoplasm ray that would leave him wailing in the morning. How dare Dash touch _his_ girl like that?

Danny marched up to him quickly, pulled the football player off of her with all his force, pulled his fist back and punched Dash in the face.

"Hey, what the hell?" Dash yelled furiously. When he came to, he couldn't believe the guy who did that to him. "_Fenton_?"

It wasn't that much of a surprise though. Danny had gotten broader shoulders during the summer of sophomore year and grew a couple inches taller just about to Dash's height. The ghost fighting was his training and through that, he became a lot stronger.

"Get out of here before I beat the _fucking_ crap out of you!" Danny warned.

Dash, out of shock, took the advice and ran.

Danny was still furious as his heart rate was pulsing harder and harder. He suddenly realized that Sam was still there. "Sam! Are you okay?" He asked, running over to her.

Sam was still in a bit of shock as she continued to lean against the wall. Danny put his arms around her "Yeah, I'm okay." She whispered.

"Did he do anything to you? If he did, I'm gonna go and--"

"_Don't_ Danny. He didn't do anything." Sam said in her cold bare tone. "Nothing that intrusive anyways."

Danny furrowed his eyebrows. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"Don't be so concerned about me, okay? I'm a big girl. I can handle it," Sam told him defensively. She didn't want him acting like her savior, like a _boyfriend_ would.

"Sam, what is wrong with you? He was acting like a pig. And you're telling me not to be concerned? I should have punched him back to freshman year!"

He was holding her hands tightly and Sam pulled away. Why did he have to act like this? Why did he have to act like he _cared_? "Just stop it! You don't need to come to my rescue! I'm not the damsel in distress here!"

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked.

"Nothing, okay nothing." Sam was losing her sense of balance. "I just need to go." And with that Sam stormed off with Danny following.

"Wait, Sam! Talk to me here!" Danny called out.

Tucker and Valerie were already out and looking for the both of them. They saw Sam running off and Danny trying to catch up with her.

"Danny!" Tucker called out. "What happened?"

Danny wasn't sure whether to follow Sam or talk to Tucker and Valerie about this. At that point, Danny realized it would be futile to talk to Sam, or to try to reason with her. "Dash was being a real _pig_ and I came to help Sam out of the situation she clearly didn't want to be in, and now she's pissed – AT ME!"

Tucker was trying to follow. "What?"

Valerie explained. "Dash was making a move on Sam, Sam didn't want anything to do with Dash, and so Danny came to her rescue."

"_Oh_… wait, what the hell did Dash do?" Tucker cried out again.

"Sam's all pissed at me for saving her. And I don't know what to say. The more I tried to explain the worse she became."

"Just let her go. I think she needs to pull off some steam." Valerie suggested.

"Val's right. When Sam is angry, it'd be best to just let her go for right now." Tucker agreed.

Danny sighed, looking at the empty hallway. "I hope so… but why is she angry in the first place?" Danny whispered to himself. "I'm gonna head home. I mean I can't watch a movie after this."

"Yeah, we understand. We'll go with you," Valerie opted.

Danny shook his head. "No, you two stay and enjoy the movie. I need to go out and just think to myself."

"Okay, Danny. But give me a ring when you can." Tucker advised.

Danny nodded and headed off. His mind was cluttered with thoughts of Sam and feelings of confusion. All he wanted right now was to have Sam in his arms just to hold. He needed that, and longed for it all night. He _wanted_ Sam and still, he couldn't process the feeling into words of love just yet.

-

-

Sam was sitting at her favorite Gothic poetry café, sighing into her cup of coffee. She pulled out her pen from her purse and began writing on her empty napkin. She wished Danny were here next to her, holding her in his warm embrace, but every time she thought that, the picture of him and Valerie came into play and the worse her feelings became.

"What wrong?" she heard a cold, clear voice ask. She looked up to see a pale rugged guy standing next to her, smiling. "I saw the look on your face from across the room and I realized that maybe you needed a pair of ears to listen."

She looked down at her napkin. "Well, I had a rough night."

"You know, I just came into Amity Park the other night. I thought this was a cheery place. I guess I was wrong…" he told her with a light smile on his face as he took a seat down next to her.

"I don't' know who advertised your trip, but Amity Park is anything but. At least, I'm not that cheery," she spoke lightly.

"I guess so. Last time I trust my travel agent, huh? _So_ is it a love problem?" he asked.

"Am I that obvious?" Sam muttered.

He looked at her. "Yeah. You definitely are the most heartbroken one around. I could _sense_ it," he said.

"_Thanks_…" she sighed. Even her sarcasm seemed depressed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I want to help. Talking helps, you know," he suggested. "My name's Ian, by the way." He flashed a smile.

"Sam. It's short for Samantha," Sam responded. Would it really do her any good to talk to this guy about anything? Maybe it was worth a shot. "Well, you see," she began. She wasn't sure why she wanted to talk to this guy, but she thought that this stranger, this drifter, may be the one person she could talk to, someone who just didn't know her or Danny. "There's this boy that I _really_ like, and he doesn't even notice me. He only sees me like a little sister, I'm sure."

"Little sister, huh?" he commented. "Are you two friends?"

"The _best_ of friends," Sam said. "And that's all we'll ever be, I guess…"

He looked at her sympathetically. "It's okay. I'm sure things will work out the way they're supposed to," he told her as he placed a light hand over her shoulder.

" I don't think so. All I feel is sadness; hollowness even. I feel happy with him and then reality kicks in and I see that nothing can happen between us. And it's just worse now. I love him…and now it just hurts so much…"

"It'll get better," he said in a low tone. "I _promise_." Ian's hand glowed a vibrant, malicious green over her shoulder, as did his eyes for a split second. Sam suddenly broke out into tears when her heart felt like it just became _taken_ out of her.

-

-

Well, now, isn't Ian a little scary? Hm. I think he'd make a great villain.

My first posted fanfic! Please read and review!


	2. Chapter Two

**Catch Me, Hold Me**

Chapter Two

The next day at school, Sam walked into the halls of Casper High unusually tired. Normally, she wouldn't like to drink coffee, but that was the only she was able to stay awake. Even if she had pulled an all nighter doing homework, she would never be this tired. But then again, yesterday was different.

She had her heart broken yet again, into a million shards on the ground by the one and only Danny Fenton.

She arrived at her locker with Tucker anticipating her arrival. She wasn't in the mood to deal with this right now. "Go away Tucker," she seethed.

"Sam, Danny told me what happened. It's not like I'm going to leave you alone," Tucker informed her.

Sam drew her eyes to meet Tucker's. "Please. Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

"Yeah, thanks to Danny. But unfortunately, you can't show the same gratitude towards him, can you?"

Of all the things Tucker could say, that was the last thing she was expecting. But she had it coming. "If you're here to yell at me, can you save it for some other time?"

Tucker sighed. "No, I'm not here to yell at you, but I am here to tell you that Danny meant well, and I'm confused on why you walked out so angry at him."

"And that, Tucker, is none of your business." She turned around and took a sip of her coffee and winced at the taste.

"You can't get rid of me that easily. What did he do? Did he overreact or something?"

Sam turned around to face him. "Yeah, that's exactly what happened. But guess what, Tucker? He's not my boyfriend. He reacted like I was his and … and, why did he do that? We're not together. And I think he made that perfectly clear when he invited Valerie along last night. So tell me Tuck, am I over my head to be mad at Danny? Am I?"

Tucker stared at her nervously. When a girl is mad, she is mad. There is no wrath like that of a woman's. He couldn't think of words to say to that.

"Your answer is all written in silence, Tucker," Sam said monotonously.

"Sam… seriously," Tucker began. "Don't get mad at Danny for doing that."

Sam let out an agreeing sigh. "I know, Tuck. I don't think I'm that mad at him. I'm more… mad at myself. Because no matter…" she suddenly paused, realizing she was blurting out unneeded excuses of her feelings. "You know what? Nevermind. I'm going to be late for class. "

And with that she left a confused Tucker trailing behind.

-

-

"So what did she say?" Danny prompted when Tucker came into class.

"Nothing much that _I_ can say…" Tucker responded.

Danny stared at his best friend for a moment. "What do you mean you can't say what she said?"

"Cause it's personal, Danny. And you know how Sam feels about personal stuff," Tucker replied, putting his books down on the desk.

The secret hero of Amity Park shook his head in frustration. "But I'm her best friend too. Why can't she tell me what's bothering her?"

"Maybe cause it deals with you…" Tucker mumbled under his breath. "Look, maybe Sam just needs some time to cool off about last night, you know? And we should just respect her space."

Danny let out a powerful sigh. "Okay, fine. But it doesn't mean I won't talk to her. I'll keep the conversation casual. I can't not talk to her, Tucker," Danny whispered, looking at his books in despair. "Where is Sam anyway? She's usually here before us."

Tucker glanced around the room for some sign of the Goth girl. "Don't know. She's usually never late."

And as if by cue, Sam came into the room with her coffee in hand, conversing with the mysterious boy from the Gothic café last night. "You can't possibly think that Romeo and Juliet is tragic… it's pathetic," Sam told him as they made their way to their seats.

"Oh, but it is," the boy responded. "Suicide, love, fate. It's all written out and they still ignore the signs."

"Shakespeare was gay," Sam concluded. "Simple as that."

Writhing uncomfortably in his seat, Danny stared at that boy. He clenched his jaw and cracked his knuckles out of pure instinct unknown to him. A cold distinct chill entered the room. "Hey Sam," Danny greeted, giving a sideways glare at that boy. A few bones in his body chilled as the temperature in the room dropped.

Sam gave a half-smile. "Hi Danny."

"Who's your friend?" Tucker asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Ian," the boy answered. "Nice to meet you both. Danny and Tucker, right?"

"Ian moved here over the weekend and he's a new student," Sam explained. "We met yesterday at the café I like to go to."

Danny bit his tongue. "I see."

Sam nervously took a sip of her coffee and gagged inwardly. "I hate coffee."

"Then why are you drinking it?" Danny asked suspiciously. "You've cursed coffee many times in your life and swore never to drink it."

Sam yawned. "I'm just really tired."

Ian stared at her sympathetically. "Maybe it's from all the talking last night," he said.

"Talking?" Tucker interjected.

Ian laughed innocently, turning his attention to the techno whiz. "Yeah, me and Sam were talking all last night at the café. She's a really intelligent girl."

"She is," Danny repeated, his eyes flaring in anger.

"Well," Tucker began, attempting to break the tension. "It's very nice to meet you Ian. Do you own a PDA, by any chance? Because you look like the PDA type. In fact, there's a new sale going down at that Techno store and well maybe later we could hang out and I could show you the latest and the greatest technology in PDA history…" he babbled on, trying to make friends.

Shaking his head in disagreement, Ian responded calmly, "I don't enjoy PDA's that much. I find them too much of a hassle to carry around. I think I'm just old fashioned though."

Tucker frowned. "Oh, I see."

"Hey," Ian began enthusiastically, "you can show me around the PDA store and we'll see if I change my mind."

Tucker's eyes beamed in excitement. "Sure, that'd be cool."

Ian laughed then he carefully looked at the front of the class. "Do you guys know where the bathroom is? I don't want to go while the teacher is talking and since he's not here..."

"Out the door and to the left," Danny said bluntly.

Ian nodded. "Thanks."

As Ian left, Sam's tired eyes drifted towards Danny. "Could be any more unwelcoming?"

"I don't like him, Sam," he said seriously. "He strikes me as a little funny."

Pursing her lips together, Sam pointed a finger at Danny. "That doesn't give you the right to be mean to him, Danny. He's a good person."

"I don't know, Sam," Tucker added. "He didn't like PDA's…"

"You guys just can't handle the fact that I have a new friend besides the two of you," Sam responded bitterly.

"That's not it," Danny defended.

Sam scoffed. "Yeah right."

Danny turned to Tucker for a moment, and then back towards Sam. Danny hesitated and wondered if he should bring up such a delicate subject right now. Well, it was now or never to him. "Look, Sam," he began, "about last night, I really just don't understand a lot of the things that happened… I'm sorry for whatever I did, but I just didn't…"

"Hey guys," Valerie greeted as she came through the door. "What are you guys chatting about?" She pulled up a chair towards Danny's seat and smiled brilliantly.

Sam bit her lower lip. "Nothing important. So how was the movie yesterday?"

"It was great," Valerie exclaimed. "Too bad you and Danny left though… but it was good, right Tucker?"

Locking eyes with Valerie, Tucker nodded. At some points, Tucker loved how Valerie knew how to make things sound more casual and inviting. She knew how to lighten the situation. "Yeah, it was really cool. It had the robot thing and the romance thing…"

"It was nice," Valerie smiled back at Tucker.

"You weren't there Danny?" Sam asked wearily.

"I left after you left," Danny explained in a low voice.

Sam's eyes drifted towards the ground. "Oh."

There was suddenly a great loud crash from outside the hallways and Danny's ghost sense took off. "Shoot…" he whispered under his breath.

"What was that?" Valerie got up from her seat carefully.

"I don't know, but I'll be right back," Danny said quickly as he sped out of the classroom.

As Danny approached the end of the hallways, he saw papers and gushing wind circling the halls in full speed. The lights began flickering insanely and the glass on the doors began shuddering. Danny had never seen this much power before, and he feared what kind of strength this ghost had. And if this ghost was bad news, as they usually are, this wasn't going to end well.

Danny took no time after this sudden thought as he transformed into Danny Phantom. Little did he know, Valerie Gray was trailing right behind him and she saw everything – she had seen Danny Fenton turn into Danny Phantom. It confirmed what suspicions she had.

"Danny…" she whispered. She took no time to comprehend the event and just put on her jump suit, ready for a fight. She ran up to Danny Phantom, only this time, less bitter. "Hey, Ghost Boy."

Danny glanced at his side. "You're not here to blame me, are you?" he asked, somewhat angrily. "Because I'm not causing any of this."

She nodded. "I know you're not."

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Hello, Danny Phantom," a voice drawled from above. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Who are you?" Danny prodded, looking up to a pale thin teenage boy with satin black hair. He wore a suit, not the normal ghost attire he had seen, but a tuxedo. This ghost had on a black tuxedo with a faint red rose pinned on his chest.

The ghost gave a small grin from the side of his lips. "Someone you'll get to know very soon. But first," he glared at the vixen in red next to him, "I think I have to get rid of your little friend first. It's between you and me, Half-Breed." And with that, his eyes glowed green as he hurled a black energy sphere towards Valerie, blasting her across the room and knocking her unconscious. The blow had disabled her suit, revealing her as an innocent student.

"Valerie," Danny shrilled, trying to run to her, but was stopped by another black sphere hurled in front of him.

"Danny Phantom, this is between you and me and if you want her to live, don't run after her. She's unconscious, but alive," the ghost spoke in a conniving voice.

"What the hell do you want?" Danny interrogated. "You _don't_ hurt my friends."

"Haven't you hurt your friends, Danny?" he responded cleverly.

Taking a step back, Danny's eyes flared at this villain. "What do you mean?"

The ghost hovered towards the ground. "Love is such a … confusing emotion, wouldn't you agree?" he droned.

"Tell me who you are!" Danny demanded.

"The name is Weston, if you must know. But, we shouldn't beat around the bush. Can you feel your heart beating, Danny? When does it beat fast? When you see someone you really care about, when does it feel like your heart is on fire?" Weston tilted his head sideways, questioningly.

"I don't understand what you're getting at, and I don't have time for this. I've got English class," Danny spat back, thrusting an endoplasmic orb in defense.

Weston ducked easily. "Does _that_ girl give you those feelings?" he asked carefully, pointing to the unconscious Valerie on the floor. "Or is there another girl that makes you sweat?"

Danny sent another orb, but still, Weston was left untouched. "Shit…" he murmured.

"I'm not here to fight with you. I want to know. There's a girl you love and you are killing her. Did you know that, Half-Breed?" Weston asked curiously, hovering towards Danny.

"Killing her…?" Danny responded with an image of Sam flashing in his head.

"I know who she is. And I know it's not her," he said, pointing bitterly at Valerie's unconscious body. "She has a beautiful heart, a beautiful soul, and you're _killing_ her. Why are you killing the person you love the most, Danny? Why?" His voice seemed innocent and prodding.

Danny began backing away. "I'm not killing anyone, except you." He let out his ghost wail desperately.

The ghost cry flung Weston back into the wall. Wincing in pain, he stood up. "I'll be back, Danny Phantom. _I will be back_."

The wind and the darkness ceased. Breathing heavily, Danny changed back into his human form and ran towards Valerie. People from their classrooms stalked outside realizing the torrent was over. Tucker and Sam ran to the front of the crowd to see Valerie and Danny, somewhat beaten and bruised.

"Danny…" Sam whispered.

"Shit, what happened?" Tucker asked, running up them.

Danny gulped and wet his lips. "A very powerful ghost…"

Sam stared at Valerie's unconscious body. "We need to get her to the nurse or something. We need a nurse!" she screamed. Although they had their differences, she couldn't leave Valerie like this. Valerie was hurt and Sam knew that Valerie didn't deserve this. All in all, she knew deep in her soul that Valerie was a good person that's saved them all on numerous occasions. "Are you people deaf?" She yelled into the crowd. "We need to get the nurse!"

-

-

All three students stood outside of the nurse's office impatiently waiting for the results of their friend's health. After all the ghost incidents, the nurses at Casper High have been well trained to deal with serious injuries and in most cases, the doctor wouldn't be needed, nor will a hospital trip be necessary. Danny was tapping his feet uncontrollably; Tucker was chewing on his nails and Sam rubbing her temples in pain.

"I should have stopped him," Danny admitted guiltily.

Sam shook her head. "Danny, no, this is not your fault. That ghost was powerful. You did the best you could."

"The best wasn't enough, Sam," he replied.

Tucker stayed silent through all of this. He had never seen any of them get hurt this badly to the point of unconsciousness and he feared the worst for Valerie.

The nurse opened the door and smiled at the three of them. "Valerie's fine," she said. "She hit her head, but it's a minor injury but she wants to see you all."

The three walked in slowly. Valerie sat upright on her bed and grinned soothingly. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Are you okay?" Tucker asked in concern.

"Just a bump to the head that's all," Valerie said coolly.

Sam's gaze rested on Valerie's bandages. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," she answered, pulling two thumbs up. "But I need to talk to you guys."

"What about?" Danny asked.

"About the ghost."

Danny gave an uneasy smile. "What do you mean, Valerie? We got there and saw you unconscious. We didn't even see the ghost."

Valerie sighed. "I gave you a reason to lie to me, I know. But, Danny, I saw it. I saw you change into Danny Phantom."

Sam stared uneasily at Tucker and then to Valerie. "Valerie, I think you were dreaming… Danny is not Danny Phantom. He's not."

"Sam, you can stop protecting him. I saw it. And I guess you guys didn't want to tell me cause I was…well, hunting him down. But I'm not angry with Danny Phantom anymore. After all the good he's done, who could be mad at Danny Phantom? I kind of had my suspicions, but everything kind of fell into place today," Valerie explained.

"So you know now," Danny concluded. His eyes lowered into shame. "I'm sorry. I should have done something to protect you."

"Even Danny Phantom can't protect everyone," Valerie reassured him with a smile.

Tucker laughed, patting Danny supportively on the back. "He's Danny Phantom. He wants to protect everyone."

The ghost hunter nodded in agreement. "Now, you guys will still let me hunt ghosts with you guys, right?" Valerie asked with a smirk.

Sam nodded. "Of course. After Jazz left for college, I haven't had a girl to talk to about Danny's ghost fighting, so it'd be nice." Sam was trying to make a mend for her behavior against Valerie. After all, Valerie wasn't out to kill Danny Phantom anymore and although she was still a rival, maybe she should just let it go.

Because either way, Sam truly believed her chances with Danny had disappeared.

"Great," Valerie beamed.

Tucker grinned toothily. "_Very_ great."

Danny eyed Valerie and Tucker back and forth, slowly putting two and two together and when he finally did get the end result, he chuckled inwardly for the first time today.

"What are you laughing at Danny?" Sam asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at him.

His eyes peered up suddenly. "Hm? Oh nothing … just funny things… funny things…"

"Okay then," Sam said slowly. "Well, I guess we'll let you rest, huh Valerie?"

Valerie groaned in return. "My dad's coming to pick me up from his work. The nurse said I couldn't drive home, so what other choice do I have?"

"Well, I can drive you home!" Tucker interjected happily. "Er, I mean, _we_ can drive you home in our van."

"The Scooby Doo Mystery Machine?" Valerie joked.

"See!" Tucker exclaimed. "She thinks that'd be a cool name!"

Sam sighed. "It was a joke, Tucker…"

"Oh…" the computer genius rearranged his glasses in embarrassment.

"But I would love the ride," Valerie added. "But… just don't call it the Mystery Machine, okay?"

Tucker returned her sweet comment with a nervous smile and a heavily beating heart. "Well, uh, then I guess I'll just get the van and pull it around."

"We'll go with you," Danny and Sam said together.

As they strode out of the nurse's office, they found Ian leaning against the wall. "Sam! There you are."

Sam's eyes nearly bulged out. "Ian? What are you doing here? School ended like an hour ago…"

"Yeah, well, I stuck around. I was worried about you," he said sweetly.

Sam's cheeks went red in embarrassment. Is there actually a chance that someone as charming and cute as Ian would be interested in someone like Sam? Maybe it was a theory she wanted to test out. "Thanks," she replied softly.

"Well, Sam, we gotta get the car around for Valerie…" Danny urged, trying to shoo the unwanted pest known as Ian away.

With disappointed eyes, Ian stared at Sam. "Oh, I was actually going to offer if you wanted to stop by the café for awhile, but I guess you're busy huh?"

Sam stared at her feet and then looked up at him. "Oh, well," she turned to Tucker and Danny, "I guess you guys can get the car without me, right? I'm going to hang out with Ian for a bit."

Tucker bit his lower lip in weariness. "Uh, yeah sure, I guess."

Danny nodded in return. "Sure, whatever," he answered shortly.

"Cool," Ian said, draping his arm around Sam. "Shall we?"

"Yeah," Sam answered uncomfortably. Feeling Ian's arm over her shoulder seemed unusually cold and she didn't exactly like this feeling.

"Are you tired?" the new boy asked.

Sam blinked slowly and then yawned. "Now that you mention it, I guess I am tired. Must have been from all the drama and everything today." She turned to Tucker and Danny. "Well, see you guys."

"See you," they both responded.

As Ian and Sam walked away like two teenage lovers, Danny snapped his head bitterly towards Tucker. "What makes that guy think he can just wrap his arms around Sam?"

"I don't know," Tucker shrugged, "but it didn't seem like Sam was against it or anything."

"You think Sam … likes him?" Danny implored.

"Well, for once in her life, some guy she might actually be interested in is making the moves. And to be honest, Danny, Sam doesn't like to wait for too long."

"What does that mean?"

"It means as much as we might not … _admire_ Ian, Sam seems to like him. You can't wait your whole life to make one move on a girl," Tucker responded. "Come on, we need to get the van."

Danny followed Tucker on their way to the parking lot in the back of the school. "Are you thinking that I lost my chance with Sam?"

"You've lost a lot of chances, man," Tucker informed him.

"But I don't trust Ian," Danny defended. "I don't think he's safe to be around."

"That's the jealousy talking."

"No, it's not. Well, maybe it is, but … I don't know. I just can't let Sam go that easily, Tucker. I can't."

"Well, then what are you going to do?" Tucker asked, pulling out his car keys.

Danny lips curled into a smirk. "I'll think of something."

"You know, Danny, I don't doubt that you could win Sam's heart but Ian is a pretty charming guy."

"I've got a lot more than just charm," Danny said thoughtfully.

Tucker gave an inward laugh and then frowned. "Danny, I never got to ask you about the ghost. You said he was powerful, but what did he want?"

"I don't know," Danny answered truthfully. "I know it has to do with me, but everything he said, it was in broken fragments. You're going to have to look up Weston on a ghost search later."

"That's his name?"

He gave a simple nod in return. "He said that I was killing someone."

"You, killing someone? Are you kidding me? You'd never hurt a fly … unless the fly was ghostly and looked like the child of the box ghost and the lunch lady… ew."

"He said I was killing someone I loved most."

"Sam?" Tucker suddenly asked.

"I can't be killing Sam, that's crazy."

Tucker shook his head, agreeing with him. "You love Sam too much to kill her."

"Yeah, I love S--" Danny stopped himself just as they arrived at the car. "Tucker, I don't … I'm not in love… I mean, I like Sam a lot… but love?"

Tucker gave a sly shrug. "You've known her for your whole life. Sure, you two have never gone out on dates, but it's not impossible that you would have fallen in love along the way…"

"No, that's crazy…"

"Crazy enough to be love," Tucker responded with a grin.

"Why don't you go and confess your love to Valerie? Hm?" Danny punched him in the arm and ripped the keys out of Tucker's hands.

Tucker gulped in embarrassment. "I don't love Valerie!"

"Tucker and Valerie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Tucker with a baby carriage!" Danny sang amusingly.

"Shut up," Tucker mumbled. "Just … start up the car, Danny."

"Will do, lover-boy."

-

-

Well now, it's been about a month since my last update. Sorry guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This new ghost seems… scary enough. What will Danny do about this new kid? Or will Ian show his claws before Danny has a chance to do anything? Stay tuned!

Please review and give feedback! THANKS!


	3. Chapter Three

_**Catch Me, Hold Me**_

Chapter Three

The lights of the Gothic café illuminated the restaurant dimly and the aromatic smell of coffee and cappuccinos filled every crevice of the room. Although Sam loved the smell of coffee, the taste of it was another story. And yet, she couldn't figure out why she kept drinking it today. Everything just made her extremely tired and lethargic. She felt like she would collapse at any given moment.

She took another disdainful sip from her coffee mug and gently put it down. "Aren't you going to have some?" Sam asked Ian curiously, eying the boy who sat there staring at her.

He shrugged casually. "No, I was just hoping that I could just look at you for a little while longer."

A light flush passed across her cheeks. "Why would you want to stare at me for?" she asked bluntly.

"Because you're so pretty," he answered, pulling his chair closer to her.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she informed him with a grin.

"Are you sure?" he mused, putting his hand over hers.

At that moment, she felt incredibly entranced in his eyes and felt drawn to him with such extraordinary power. "Um," she began nervously, "I don't know."

He gave a smirk. "Then I guess we'll have to see, won't we?" he said, closing the space between them.

As their lips met, Sam felt a rush of coldness seeping through her body. She wasn't expecting a kiss or one that would feel like this. Although Ian's lips were soft, they were cold to the touch. She thought about the kiss she had shared with Danny on numerous occasions, though dubbed fake-out make-outs, and remembered the warmth that Danny had brought her whenever he touched her. She immediately pulled away from Ian at the very thought.

Ian looked a little shocked, obviously not expecting Sam to pull away.

"I'm sorry," Sam began, "it's just that…"

"You're thinking about Danny?" he asked roughly.

"I … I just don't know."

"I really like you, Sam," he said.

"We just met yesterday, how could you possibly--?"

He cut her off. "Do you believe at love at first sight?"

"I don't know…" She thought about how she met Danny in middle school and fell on top of each other after Paulina pushed her from the side of the hallway. She remembered those vibrant electrifying blue eyes that caught her immediately. Maybe she did believe in love at first sight but not with Ian.

Ian hands tilted Sam's face to meet his. "Do you believe it now?"

Immediately, she began thinking that she didn't want to be here with Ian. She really just wanted to be with Danny right now. But before she could excuse herself, Ian's lips caught her again, but this time more forceful and powerful than before. He was holding the back of her neck to support her from falling back, kissing her intensely.

Intoxication entered her and she began kissing Ian back. She had no control over what she was doing.

She felt like something was being drained out of her and that lethargic feeling came back.

She collapsed exhaustedly onto him.

"Tired?" Ian asked, his voice low and luring.

Her head felt like it had been split. "Yeah, I think so…" she whispered, still leaning against him for support.

"I'll walk you home then…" he suggested, holding her up.

She nodded and followed him, leaning her head against his shoulder. Too bad she couldn't see how devilish his grin had become or how his eyes flickered green again. His arm slithered around her waist and held her close.

He thought to himself quickly, _Too bad I'll have to kill you and that ghost boy..._

-

-

Back at Tucker's house, Danny paced the room back and forth.

"I wonder what they're doing right now…" Danny mused to his best friend sitting on the computer.

Tucker arched an eyebrow. "You mean Sam and Ian?"

"No, the Olsen twins – of course, Sam and Ian," Danny replied sarcastically.

Tucker gave a loud chuckle. "I think Sam's sarcasm has really rubbed off on you, Danny."

"Everything about Sam has rubbed off on me…"

Tucker gave Danny a sure sympathetic look. "Hey Danny, maybe we can take your mind of Sam by researching about that ghost today, shall we?"

Danny nodded, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Weston – look up Weston," he said.

"Already way ahead of you. I searched the database for any ghost named Weston, and came up with about 50 hits. It ranges from the Box Ghost's cousin to some ghost inhabiting part of Jamaica," he began. "But then I enhanced the search to pin point ghosts that are connected with the topic of love or killing Danny Phantom. We're down at 40 – cause dude, a lot of ghosts want to kill you."

Danny rolled his eyes. "That's nothing new for me. Go on."

Tucker nodded, scanning the list even further. "Tell me what else the ghost said to you…"

"I told you everything. He said that I was killing the person I loved most."

The techno-whiz pursed his lips together in frustration. "I don't know, man. We could try doing a search just as the topic of love considering that's what the ghost was trying to say… but why would this ghost be after you if he wasn't trying to kill you?"

Danny thought about this. "Well, if he wanted to kill me, he could have easily done it. I mean I kept throwing all I had, and he didn't seem affected at all."

"Then I guess we'll try that hit, huh?" Tucker's finger graced the keyboard swiftly. "Okay, five hits."

"What are they?"

"One ghost is a … _vampire_. Did the ghost you fought look like a mix between Dracula and … a very hairy lady?"

Danny shook his head. "Next one."

"Okay, the next two ghosts are twins that hunt … cupid."

"Cupid?"

"That's what it says," Tucker informed, pointing to the screen. "Obviously not you…"

Danny licked his lips. "… Cupid? Is cupid even real?"

"Focus, Danny. The next one is a girl ghost. That's out."

"Okay, so what about the last one?" Danny asked, hovering over the screen.

Tucker clicked on the link and waited for the screen to load. He leaned in as the window popped up. "Okay, this ghost is one that hunts… unrequited love."

"Unrequited love?"

"Yeah, you know. Two lovers that haven't even dated. A flame that hasn't been touched. A love that's just been ignored for too long. Man, you really have to pay attention in English class," Tucker explained, rolling his eyes and rearranging his glasses.

"Well, that can't be the ghost that's after me," Danny concluded.

"Are you still blind?" Tucker screeched. "You and Sam are unrequited lovers."

"What do you mean, Tucker?" Danny asked, folding his arms.

Frustrated and annoyed, Tucker suddenly leaped off of his seat and lectured, "You two love each other and don't even know it. And it makes _sense_. Danny, listen to me on this one. It really does make sense. You know you like Sam. You know that Sam likes you. Why do you two keep ignoring every sign that's been thrown in your faces?" Tucker was heaving in long breaths, finally exploding all information stuck in his own hard drive of a brain.

Danny took a step back and bit his lower lip, looking at Tucker, trying to pretend. But it failed. It failed as it always does. He sighed. "I don't know why I ignore it."

"Well, you better figure it out, Danny because if this ghost is after you and Sam, he's probably already at work. You two are in danger."

Danny nodded. "Well, we'll have to get more information on the ghost," he said as he took a seat in front of the computer. "Let's look at his history."

"Right," Tucker agreed.

Danny scanned the page quickly. Maybe he wasn't that bright at school and math, but at least he could speed read. "Weston died in 1852 after committing suicide…"

"Ouch," Tucker commented, pulling his collar.

"Yeah, tell about it. Historians have said that Weston committed suicide because an assassin murdered the woman that he loved. This assassin was after her love, but she refused to reciprocate. Supposedly, she was killed wearing the ring that Weston gave her. Now, legend has it, Weston travels the world in search for two true lovers that don't realize their love for each other so he … can _destroy_ them," Danny finished, his mouth hung open a little at the last sentence.

"Destroy them?" Tucker asked. "Isn't that a little hypocritical considering everything?"

Danny nodded slowly. "I think he's trying to destroy what he couldn't have himself…"

"Click on this picture," Tucker pointed on the screen.

"But that's the picture of Weston as a human before he died, not as his ghost form."

"Well, maybe they'll the look similar. Just click on it."

Danny obliged and hovered the mouse of the link. As the window popped up, both Tucker and Danny backed away. "Doesn't that look like…"

"Ian?" Tucker finished.

"Shit," Danny whispered. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"Wait, maybe it's not Ian. Maybe this is just very coincidental…" Tucker suggested, trying to calm down his friend. "I mean your ghost sense didn't go off when you met him."

"But Ian wasn't there when the ghost attacked…" Danny explained through gritted teeth and clenched hands.

Tucker put both his hands up. "Danny, before you do anything irrational, like go over to Ian's house and kill him, we should just think this thoroughly. He might be a ghost – yes. But if we go over there and he's not, you just blew your cover as Danny Phantom. We should go check on Sam first. Make sure she's okay … you know?"

"_I'm_ going to go and see if Sam's alright. She should be home by now. _You_ stay here and research more about Weston or Ian, or whatever. I'll be back…" And with that, Danny went ghost and flew out of the window.

Tucker stood there watching his best friend fly away. "I really hope that Ian is just a normal kid," he muttered under his breath as he went back to the computer.

-

-

Danny raced the skies as he sped towards Sam's house. During the trip, Danny mentally kicked himself many times over for not realizing this before. Why hadn't his ghost sense gone off? He knew there was something off about Ian, but what could he prove?

As he reached Sam's house, he glanced through her window to see her fast asleep, safe and sound. He smiled at the sight. Even when Sam was sleeping, she still looked angelic. His heart still beat faster at the sight of her. She was just so beautiful.

Suddenly, something powerful blasted him from the side and he fell towards the ground, pummeled on the pavement. "What the…?"

"Pretty, isn't she?" The voice asked from above.

Danny shook his head and stared up at Weston. "Stay the hell away from Sam," Danny warned.

"So did you finally figure it out, Danny?"

"That you're a killer? Yeah, I figured that one out."

Weston disappointedly shook his head. "Danny, Danny, Danny. Come on, if you can't realize the love you have for this girl, when are you going to? Do I have to kill her first?"

The ghost boy's blood began to boil. He shot an endoplasmic sphere towards Weston, one after another, but only hitting him once. "Don't you dare touch her," Danny seethed.

"Why do I have to hurt her when you're already doing all the work for me?" Weston's grin widened, shaking off the blast.

"Shut up!" Danny yelled.

The ghost began laughing inwardly. "You can't take the truth, Half-Breed?"

"Just stay away from Sam. If you want to fight with me, fine. But leave her out of it."

"But you know that's not my M.O. I can't just kill you. I have to kill her too," Weston said unemotionally.

"Just please, don't hurt Sam, please…" Danny begged.

Weston looked playfully sad. "Aw, that's sweet. But your love for her and her love for you, oh Danny, how can I let you two go on if you two won't even love each other like you're meant to? Most people, they don't find their soul mates. But you two have. And you want to ignore it? What are you?" His face cringed evilly. "_Stupid_?"

Danny was done playing games with him. "You're going to regret this," he warned, his hands glowing green.

"Yes, I would love to stay, but I've got business to attend to, but I will be back Danny Phantom. But don't about Sam because I'll be keeping an eye on her whenever I can…" he cackled and faded away before Danny could attack.

"Dammit," he whispered.

-

-

The next day at school, Danny came into school without any sleep. How could he sleep when every time he closed his eyes, he'd see Sam? And to add to that, Sam was now in danger- in very big danger. He couldn't just fall asleep like everything's okay.

"Didn't you get any rest, Danny?" Tucker asked as he came up to his locker.

"Not much. Did you find anything else on Weston?"

Tucker nodded. "Actually, I did. His father's name was Ian. Coincidence? I don't know," he said.

"And you didn't call me last night to tell me?"

"And do what? Wake you up at three in the morning to let you know that there's a chance this Ian and the ghost Weston are the same? Maybe. But Danny, you have to enough to deal with. You said Sam was fine," Tucker said.

"I don't want Ian around Sam," Danny sighed, clutching his books in his arm tighter.

"You think we should confront Ian about this?"

"I don't know. I want to, but … what if we're wrong – Sam will never forgive us," Danny explained.

"Well, we have to do something," Tucker said.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, we do. The picture looked like Ian. Their names are the same – kind of. He comes into town as a ghost attacks. Maybe we do have all the proof we need," Danny contemplated.

Grabbing his PDA-phone from his pocket, he looked at a text message from Valerie. He smiled.

"What are you so happy about?" Danny asked, looking over his best friend's shoulder.

"Nothing," Tucker said quickly, putting his PDA away. "Nothing."

"Whatever, Romeo," Danny mocked, inadvertently letting Tucker know he saw the message as they went to see Sam at her locker.

-

-

Valerie met up with Sam in the morning and began talking like long-time friends. Maybe Sam should have given Valerie a chance a long time ago especially since being friends with two guys will only deteriorate her sanity. All in all, Valerie was good company – and a _girl's_ company nonetheless.

"You know, Tucker is kind of … cute in a geeky way," Valerie mentioned as she was rummaging through her locker.

Sam gagged on her coffee. "Tucker?"

Valerie nodded. "Yeah, Tucker – your friend."

"I thought you liked Danny," Sam whispered, looking at her intently

Valerie shrugged nonchalantly. "That was freshman year, and I don't know. Danny is just Danny. Not for me, but Tucker…"

"I can't possibly imagine this – you and Tucker?" Sam shook her head in disbelief.

As Sam shut her locker, Ian came up from behind, surprising her. "Hey baby," Ian greeted as he swung his hand around Sam's waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

Valerie's eyes widened at this sudden scene, but she wasn't the only one. Sam stood frozen in shock almost dropping her coffee; she wasn't expecting Ian so early in the morning expressing his affections right after they kissed yesterday. And for the record, Sam still hadn't exactly agreed to be Ian's girlfriend or anything. This was just a little weird. Ian seemed a little forceful ever since last night.

"Ian," Sam said, pulling away. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you a kiss…" he whispered seductively.

Sam bit her lower lip. "But um, now?"

"Well, did you enjoy it? I mean the element of surprise," he asked thoughtfully.

"It definitely surprised me," Sam said, feeling a little cornered by Ian's height and body.

Ian grinned. "Good," he commented. He slowly slid his hands more tightly around Sam's waist, pulling her closer to him for a more passionate kiss.

Again, Sam wasn't too excited about this. As his lips brushed against hers, she dropped her coffee suddenly and leaned back against the lockers weakly, unable to support her own weight and Ian wasn't exactly helping by pushing her further. Her body just felt incredibly weaker.

Valerie interjected. "Hey, Sam. We're going to be late."

Sam's tired eyes slowly opened as she pushed Ian off her. "Ian, um, I have to get to class now," she explained.

Ian nodded. "Of course, I'll talk to you later then," he said, winking at her and leaving.

"What was that about?" Valerie asked, looking at Sam in a concerned way.

"I don't know. Ian kissed me last night… but I mean, I don't understand," she began in fragmented sentences, trying to understand why the room was suddenly spinning.

Valerie's eyebrows furrowed. "Are you okay Sam?"

"Yeah I think… oh shoot, my coffee," she groaned.

"Hey it's fine. We'll get the janitor, but really Sam, _are_ you okay?"

Sam eyes flickered. "Um, I think…"

Danny and Tucker turned the corner to see Sam and Valerie, but they were definitely surprised to see a lethargic Sam, spilt coffee and a worried Valerie.

Danny gave a half smile. "Hey Sam, is everything okay?"

Valerie sighed deeply. "Well, with that Ian guy, not really…"

"Ian?" Danny bit back with his eyes flaring.

"What do you mean?" Tucker added.

"He was just here and unwelcome nonetheless…" Valerie explained, shaking her head.

Sam shook her head. "No really, he was just… whatever… and…" she began, trying to make full and coherent sentences come out of her mouth, breathing a little heavily.

Danny placed a hand on Sam's shoulder, looking very concerned. "Sam, are you okay?"

"I've been asking her the same thing…" Valerie said from the side.

Sam looked up a Danny, dazed and unsure of why she suddenly felt so faint. She finally whispered, "Danny…" and collapsed into his arms.

"Sam!" he screeched, holding her up. Just as she fell, his ghost sense went off. "No, not now…" he said, scanning the hallways. But, he saw nothing.

"I'll get the nurse," Tucker suggested as he ran down the hallway.

Valerie looked confused. "Danny, is this something ghostly?"

He nodded, cradling Sam protectively in his arms. "It is. Ian – Tucker and I think…"

"He's a ghost?"

"The ghost that attacked us. He's after me and Sam."

"Why?" she asked, bending down, looking at Sam's pale face.

Danny shook his head. "I don't have time to explain." His hands began shaking as he held Sam closer to his chest. "Sam, please be okay…"

Valerie stared sympathetically at the two.

-

-

It was ironic that they were waiting outside the nurse's office again the day after Valerie was attacked. The nurse was probably suspicious of the four now, but that didn't really faze Danny at all. He just wanted to know that Sam was all right. Inside Danny's mind, he wondered if he should go after Ian while he still could – at least while Sam was in the nurse's office, she'd be kept safe. But he wouldn't be able to fight if he didn't know how Sam was.

Valerie came up to Danny and Tucker in the hallways. "Hey, I just got in contact with Sam's parents and they're away on vacation, and they'll be back soon."

"Good," Tucker said, looking at an intent Danny Fenton. He waved his hand in front of Danny's face, trying to make him snap out of his trance. "Danny? Hello?"

"What?" Danny asked, looking at the two.

Valerie pursed her lips together. "Danny, I think if Ian is … a ghost, I should tell you exactly what happened when he came to see Sam. You're not going to like it…but maybe it'll help you guys with whatever you two know or will know or whatever."

Danny nodded and gulped. "Tell me, what happened?"

Valerie took in a deep breath. "Ian came up to Sam and kissed her. She was a little more than overwhelmed and kind of confused. Everything was fine… the _first_ time. Then he kissed her again, and she dropped her coffee and she just seemed _a lot_ more tired…"

"Ian kissed her?" Tucker asked, eying Danny.

"That son of a bitch," Danny seethed.

"Look, Danny. I don't think it's going to help you if you overreact. But that's what happened," Valerie said.

Danny sighed, looking at his hands. "I should have seen this coming…"

"Danny, none of us saw this coming," Tucker reassured him.

"I should have been able to protect her, Tucker," Danny looked at his friend seriously.

Suddenly the door opened, and Sam walked out seemingly looking a lot healthier than when she went in. "Hey guys," she greeted with a casual smile.

"Sam," Danny whispered. "The nurse let you out?"

She nodded. "Well, I just fainted. It wasn't really anything big," she explained, acting as if everything was fine.

"Sam," Tucker began. "You collapsed. It's big."

"You guys just worry too much," Sam reassured them. "Just drop it, okay?"

Valerie shook her head. "Seriously, Sam. You need to rest."

Sam felt like she was being surrounded and ganged up by her friends. "Look, I'm going. And if you guys want to actually stop worrying, you can come," she spat back at them, passing through all three of them like open doors.

She was out the front doors of Casper High before Danny pulled her back. "Sam, stop. You need to just relax, okay? We're worried about you. _I'm_ worried about you. You fainted for God's sake."

Sam looked at Danny's eyes, noticing strong concern and worry. She bit her lower lip. "Danny… it was nothing, really."

Danny put both arms around her, holding her in a tight embrace. "Sam, please. Will you just slow down for minute? What happened to you scared me. Please just don't let me be scared like that again… I didn't know what to do …"

Sam felt a flash of warmth that glided through her body as he held her. It felt so comforting; she almost wanted to disappear in it. "Danny, I-"

"Sam," a voice called from behind them.

She turned around suddenly. "Ian?"

"Sam, I heard about what happened, you wanna talk?" he asked innocently.

Danny held her tighter. "Sam, don't. Please. I don't trust him. I'll explain it to you later, but please, don't go with him."

Sam stared at Danny intently. She should trust Danny, right? He's out to protect her, but… at what cost? What if Ian really does like her and he's just trying to get in the way? "Danny, what are you talking about? Ian is a … good guy," she struggled with the last words.

Danny shook his head. "No, Sam, no. He's not."

"Sam…" Ian said seductively. "Come on."

Her head snapped towards Ian unsure of what to do. "Danny, come on, Ian's not…"

Danny let her go and stepped in front of her protectively. "Stay the hell away from her, Ian."

"Why?" The boy looked confused.

Soon Valerie and Tucker arrived behind them, jumping into a scene that was obviously going to turn into ugly chaos.

"You know why," Danny seethed.

"Danny!" Sam screamed. "What is wrong with you? Stop acting like some… protective _boyfriend_. You're … _not_."

Her words cut into him deep. "Sam, I'm just trying to protect you… he's-"

"The person I want to be with right now," Sam said triumphantly. She clicked her combat boots back and made her way towards Ian.

"Sam, stop!"

"Sam!" Tucker yelled after as well.

"Don't touch her, Weston!" Danny barked, getting ready to run after her.

"What did you just call him?" Sam asked in disbelief as she got to Ian.

"Weston," Ian said bitterly grasping Sam's shoulders tightly.

Sam quickly turned. "Ian?"

A green glow illuminated around him and his form changed suddenly. "Weston, nice to meet you my dearest Sam," he introduced, staring at her dangerously. He grabbed her from behind and brought his arm around her chest.

"Let go of me!" Sam wrangled. "Danny…" she whispered. Danny had been right. She struggled even further in his grasp.

"Weston, let her go!" Danny suddenly turned ghost, not actually taking into account people that might have been watching them.

Weston grinned maliciously at the halfa. "You want her?" he asked, tightening his grip on her, making his hands glow an evil green. She suddenly fainted backwards. "Come find her…" he challenged, fading away with Sam in his arms.

"Sam!" Danny screamed, trying to catch her as she faded with the villain. He collapsed onto the ground where the two had been, unable to move. He had lost Sam. He had let her get away and now she was in danger. His heart began to beat faster. He didn't know what to do. Footsteps came closer from behind and screams from Valerie and Tucker approached. But that didn't matter to him. "Sam…" he whispered desperately.

-

-

Well, here's Chapter Three! I know this actually went faster than expected, but I think this will be short story, considering that I don't want to drag things out. But if it did go too fast, let me know. I'll try working on pace.

So Ian showed his claws and now has Sam captive. Great, just great.

Stay tuned for Chapter Four!


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